As you may have heard, Fantastic Four #1 is on sale Wednesday (and that means midnight for some stores). Marvel would really like you to be aware of that.
First they’ve rolled out a trailer for the premiere, which gives you a motion comics preview intercut with Dan Slot, Tom Brevoort and C.B. discussing the relaunch.
Then there’s an interview up with Slott where he mentions a few things like:
Marvel.com: What can we expect from them in this new FANTASTIC FOUR comic series?
Slott: Expect to see the characters you know and love, having all-new, cosmic adventures, with some surprising new family dynamics thrown into the mix. From the very start, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the perfect comic: family and friends exploring the unknown, having fun, getting on each other’s nerves, and having each other’s backs. A big part of what made the Fantastic Four the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine was that it kept going forward, kept changing, and kept showing you something you’ve never seen before. And Sara Pichelli and I are going to do our best to give you ALL of that!
and
Marvel.com: How about villains? Will we be seeing classic villains like Doctor Doom or will someone new be entering the fray?
Slott: Victor Von Doom and an all-new friend of his will be appearing in FF #1. And I’m pretty sure you’ll be seeing them again very soon. In the months to come, readers will get stories featuring both classic FF villains and deadly new adversaries. First up will be a powerful cosmic-level threat called The Griever.
I find the second quote a little more interesting as Marvel seems to be going out of their way to mention whenever a new character appears. Is it the novelty of new characters after not having that many for awhile or is it chasing speculator sales after the hype around the Red Goblin or Cosmic Ghost Rider? It’s not clear, but new characters seem to be a thing again, whether it’s supporting cast or villains.
Doesn’t this cost 6 bucks? If so, I’ll wait for the trade to arrive at my public library.
“First up will be a powerful cosmic-level threat called The Griever.”
Followed by the spin off series, Leave it to Griever!
The problems are many here, at least for me. The price, Slott himself who’s not a great writer in my opinion, the feeling that where once the FF was a comic book featuring stories it is now a marketing strategy featuring market tested franchises. Marvel has no soul and the writing reflects that for the most part. New characters are intriguing, but then we get back to the price and the question; are they that intriguing? Not really sold on the artwork either. Finally this is the same team and characters that marvel tossed into the trashcan a few years back because a movie/rights conflict. Why should I be interested in characters that are so disposable?
Is Slott writing this? Did they make Bendis scar Doom again for this? Is it true that the Fantastic Four do not make an appearance as a team in this first book? Was the answer yes to any or all of these questions? Hard pass.
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